Revenue published information and advice for taxpayers and agents on the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) on its website. The webpage includes the key features of the EWSS, as published in legislation, including the qualifying criteria for employers and the level of subsidy support the employer will receive per employee.

The EWSS will replace the TWSS from 1 September 2020. Both schemes will run in parallel from 1 July. The EWSS is expected to continue until 21 March 2021.

In order to be eligible for the EWSS, employers must demonstrate that:

• their business will experience a 30% reduction in turnover or customer orders between 1 July and 31 December 2020; and
• the disruption is caused by COVID-19.

The reduction in turnover or customer orders is relative to:

• the same period in 2019 where the business was in existence prior to 1 July 2019;
• the date of commencement of a business to 31 December 2019; or
• where a business commenced after 1 November 2019, the projected turnover or customer orders, had COVID-19 disruption not arisen.

Employers are required to conduct a monthly review to ensure they continue to meet the eligibility criteria under the EWSS. The EWSS will be administered by Revenue on a ‘self-assessment’ basis. The normal requirement to operate PAYE on all payments will be re-established under the EWSS however, a 0.5% rate of employers PRSI will continue to apply for employments that are eligible for the subsidy.

The subsidy support amounts are set out in the table below. EWSS support will be backdated to 1 July for eligible employers who did not qualify for the TWSS.

The EWSS will be available from 31 July for:

• TWSS employers who have non-TWSS employees (new hires), and
• Non-TWSS employers, who have not previously availed of the TWSS.

Further details on the EWSS can be seen on Revenue’s website.